


Gambling Hearts

by avengerskye



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fluff, Las Vegas Wedding, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28556265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengerskye/pseuds/avengerskye
Summary: After a wild night in Vegas, Josie and Hope wake up in the same bed.There's only two problems :1 - They don't know each other.2 - They got married.Or; A wedding in Vegas AU
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 113
Kudos: 361





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi.
> 
> So I know I have a lot of works in progress, but... What's one more? 
> 
> Enjoy!

Josie opens her eyes only to close them immediately. The sun getting inside the room through the opened curtains is way too aggressive for the brunette's eyes. The first thing that registers to her brain is her headache, her head is painfully pounding. She tries to turn slightly and lay on her back, but the arm around her waist keeps her from doing so. Josie's thoughts stop for a second, before going into overdrive. The Saltzman girl quickly opens her eyes, ignoring the brightness of the sun, and she very slowly turns around. She does everything in her power to not wake up the person who's holding her. 

The sight that awaits Josie makes her heart skip a beat. The woman laying in bed with her might be the most beautiful person Josie has ever seen. She has long wavy auburn hair, soft-looking features and lips that the brunette could definitely imagine herself kissing. 

Even though the stranger is beautiful beyond words, Josie can't help but freak out. Waking up in a stranger's arms had the tendency to have that effect on her. The only thing that keeps her from bolting out of the bed is that both of them have their clothes on. She's almost sure they didn't sleep together now. Despite that, the brunette gently takes the woman's arm off of her body. As soon as the woman's not touching her anymore, Josie very slowly gets out of bed. Not waking the woman is her number one goal at the moment because doing the walk of shame sounds way better than talking to a stranger after spending a night in their arms. 

It's only when she's out of bed that the Saltzman girl takes a moment to look around the hotel room. Spacious, luxurious, beautifully decorated and an enormous bed. Josie turns back to the still sleeping woman, and briefly wonders how a 20-something year old could afford that kind of room. She doesn't let herself dwell on that for long though, soon she's quietly looking around the room to find her belongings. She finds her jacket hanging on the back of a chair, and her purse on the table. The only thing missing are her shoes. She looks everywhere on the floor to find them, but quickly becomes dizzy. Josie leans her hand on the wall to steady herself, but by doing so, she accidently pushes the nightstand and makes the lamp that was on it fall. 

The clash makes Josie's eyes grow wide, and the woman she left on the bed bolts awake. The auburn haired woman looks around the room, clearly disoriented. When her eyes land on Josie, the brunette forces a smile as she sees the woman having her own little freak out. The auburn haired woman quickly covers herself with the sheets of the bed, and Josie realises the woman didn't even notice she is wearing clothes.

Josie uses the hand that's not leaning on the wall to wave at the woman.

"Hi, I'm Jo-"

"Oh my god, you're married!" The woman says, covering her mouth with one of her hands.

"What? No!" 

The words come out of Josie's mouth quickly, the brunette doesn't even take the time to think them over. But then, she sees a ring on her finger and immediately understands why the woman would think she's married. She looks back at the auburn haired woman, ready to explain herself when a little detail catches her eyes. The hand the woman is covering her mouth with has a ring around a very specific finger too.

"But I can see _you_ are!"

The woman narrows her eyes and quickly uncovers her mouth. She looks at Josie without saying anything for a couple of seconds.

"I am not married. Why would you say that?"

Josie rolls her eyes. "The ring on your finger."

The girl frowns. "The ring on my fin-" Her eyes grow bigger as she sees what Josie's talking about. "It's not mine!"

Josie is confused now. How could they both be wearing rings that didn't belong to them, and in that very specific finger on top of that? The brunette's headache overcomes her thought, and the only thing she wants now is to get back to her own room.

"Can you just tell me where my shoes are? Then, I'll be on my way and we can forget we ever saw each other. I mean, we didn't even have sex-"

The woman cuts her off. "We didn't?"

Josie shrugs. "I'm not like 100% sure, but I woke up with my clothes on and you had yours too."

"Oh…" The woman looks down and realises she is indeed dressed. "That's good news. I don't know where your shoes are, but I can help you find them." 

The auburn haired woman stands up and runs a hand through her auburn locks, looking as hungover as Josie feels.

"That'd be great, thank you…"

"Hope." The auburn haired woman quickly gives her name.

"Josie." The brunette says back, her smile more genuine now. 

Hope gives a small smile to Josie before she starts looking around the room too. They both look around the room for a minute or two. The brunette ends up looking inside the bathroom and that's where she finally finds the shoes she was wearing the night before. She stays inside the bathroom, away from Hope's eyes, for a couple of seconds, trying to gather her thoughts. She wants to remember what happened the night before, and figure out how she ended up sleeping in a random woman's arms and with a ring on her hand. Now that she stops to look at it, the ring is beautiful. It looks like it's made of gold, with a round ruby on top, her favorite gemstone. 

"Josie?" Hope calls out.

The Saltzman woman quickly walks out of the bathroom, ready to tell the auburn haired woman that she found her shoes. She suddenly stops when she sees Hope standing in the middle of the room with a piece of paper in hands. Josie steps closer because the look on Hope's face worries her. 

"Is your full name Josette Lucas Saltzman?" 

The brunette frowns. "Yeah."

Hope hands Josie the piece of paper, and when Josie finally holds it, the auburn haired girl places one hand over her mouth and the other on her stomach.

"I'm gonna be sick."

Hope rushes to the bathroom before Josie manages to say anything. She's a little worried about the woman she spent the night with, but the brunette's curiosity is greater than her worry. So, Josie quickly looks at the paper she has in hand. The words she's reading make a good amount of time to sink in, but when they do, the brunette feels sick too. Josie quickly sits on the bed, because she feels like she could pass out at any moment now.

After a couple of minutes, Hope walks out of the bathroom, looking even paler than before. She leans her whole body on the wall for a couple of seconds and stares at Josie. Then, she pushes herself off the wall and walks to the bed to sit next to the brunette. 

"It's a marriage certificate." Josie says, even though they both know what it is.

Hope nods. "Do you… remember how it happened?"

Josie shoves the piece of paper into Hope's hands before leaning her elbows on her thighs and burying her face into her hands. The fact that she drunkenly got married is barely registering into her brain.

"Not at all." The brunette groans. "Do you?"

"Not really. My memories of last night are blurry, almost non-existent."

Josie sighs, and lifts her head to look at Hope. "Then, we're on the same boat."

She doesn't wait for Hope to say something before she gets up again. A sudden idea comes to her mind. As soon as she has her purse in hands, Josie goes through it to find her phone. It's no surprise that it died during the night, but it still frustrates the Saltzman woman.

"Do you have a phone charger I could use?" 

Hope quickly stands up and looks through her stuff on one of the desks. It takes her a handful of seconds to find the charger, then she walks to Josie and offers it to her.

"Thank you." Josie sighs and proceeds to make her phone charge. "Maybe there's something in my phone that could help us remember. If not… then I'll at least be able to call my sister."

Hope bites her lip. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan."

"Why don't you go look through yours?"

The auburn haired woman shakes her head. "It would be no use. I didn't have it with me last night, that's for sure."

"How can you be so sure?" Josie asks, confused by Hope's sudden confidence.

"I don't take it with me when I go out, it's a rule in the family. This way we avoid some scandals."

Josie's confusion gets even worse. "What does that even mean?"

Hope seems to hesitate for a moment, then she runs a hand through her hair as she goes back to sitting on the bed. She sighs and looks up at Josie.

"Does 'Mikaelson Technology' ring a bell to you?"

"Kinda. I mean, I know they're big leaders in their field."

Hope nods. "We develop medical technologies. My grandfather created the company, and now my father is CEO. I'm next in line. So, you know, we avoid scandals."

Josie's first thought is that now it makes sense for Hope to have such an expensive looking room. Then, she realised that she's now married to the heir of one of the most lucrative companies in the world. The thoughts are swirling in Josie's head, and she can't stand them.

"Okay." She blurts out before standing up.

Josie goes back to her phone. The device charged enough for the brunette to be able to open it, and she sighs in relief when the screen lights up. However, when the notifications start to appear, her face drops. It takes a couple of minutes for her phone to stop blowing up, enough time for Hope to stand up and walk up to Josie. 

"What's going on?"

"I-I don't know."

Josie notices that most of the notifications come from Instagram, so it's the first application she opens. She decides to ignore her sister's messages, along with her parents'. As soon as the application is opened, Josie goes to her pictures and her eyes widen when she sees her most recent post. It's a selfie of them at the altar, Josie's showing off her ring to the camera as they're kissing. The stories are gone, but she can tell they were a thing because tons of people are mentioning them in the comments of the picture. There's one last thing that catches Josie's eyes.

"I don't think you'll be able to avoid the scandal this time, Hope. You're tagged in the picture."

When Josie's eyes leave the screen to look at Hope, she's met with a sight that breaks her heart. Hope looks totally crushed and she has tears in her eyes. Even though Josie barely knows the woman, she still feels a strong urge to comfort her. She quickly puts her phone back into her purse before reaching for Hope's hand. When the auburn haired woman doesn't flinch or pull away, Josie decides to pull her into a hug. Josie holds Hope for a couple of seconds before the embrace is reciprocated.

"Listen, okay?" Josie softly says. "We were both really drunk when we got married, I'm sure we can get an annulment for this stupid wedding."

Hope gently, but quickly pushes Josie away, but she places her hands on the brunette's shoulders. Her face is now full of panic.

"What? No, please, we can't do that. I'm begging you."

Josie tilts her head to the side, not really understanding Hope's sudden position on their marriage. She lifts one of her hands and slowly rubs Hope's arm to try and get her to calm down.

"It would be like we were never married. Well, legally at least."

"No, you don't understand." Hope says as she shakes her head. "If it's online, then everyone must know by now. Marriage is very important for my family. If I don't stay married to you, they'll never forgive me! They'll disown me. I'll have no job, no family, no future-"

With every word stumbling out of Hope's mouth, Josie's eyes get a little wider. She can see how overwhelmed the woman is getting, so the brunette knows she needs to intervene.

"Hope, stop." Josie cuts the auburn haired woman off. "Breathe, okay?"

Hope does as she's told, but the panic and desperation on her face doesn't disappear. Josie pities her for a moment. The Mikaelson girl lets her arms drop to her side, cutting off her physical contact with Josie. She runs a hand over her face, and takes a deep breath. Then, she's back to looking at the brunette. 

"I know it's way out of line, but I need you to agree." Hope says. "I'd be good to you, and you'd never need anything."

Josie crosses her arms, suddenly defensive. 

"Marriage is supposed to be based on feelings, not money."

"I know, but we could work on that." Hope shrugs with a little smile. "I mean, last night we liked each other enough to get married."

Josie rolls her eyes. "We were drunk."

"Yeah, but we still had to like each other."

Josie sighs as she looks Hope in the eyes. She knows herself. She knows that if Hope keeps looking at her with those big pleading eyes, she'll end up agreeing to stay in an accidental marriage. The fact that those eyes are to die for isn't helping her case either. Hope is even more beautiful now that she's awake, and she seems nice enough.

The Saltzman woman shakes her head, to try and get rid of those thoughts. That's when a plan forms itself in her head. A plan that would give the Mikaelson woman some hope, and give Josie a way out of this marriage. 

"Let's make a deal, Hope." Josie smiles as the auburn haired girl's eyes light up. "I'm gonna give you six months to make me fall in love with you. If you manage to do it, we'll stay married. If you don't, we'll file for divorce."

Hope's smile is bright and confident as she offers her hand to Josie. The brunette gently takes the Mikaelson girl's hand. Hope's hold on Josie's hand is firmer than the brunette expected it to be. 

"Deal." Hope says as she shakes Josie's hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make it clear (if it wasn't already) that all characters are above 21 in this story!
> 
> Enjoy!

As soon as Josie walks out of Hope's room, she dials her twin's number. She has countless unread texts from Lizzie, along with tons of missed calls. She didn't dare open the texts nor listen to the voicemails. She got a quick glance at the ones their mother had sent, and it was enough to give the brunette an idea of what her family thinks of her accidental marriage. Calling Lizzie was definitely safer than calling her mom though. She barely has the time to take a step before Lizzie picks up the phone.

"Josette Lucas Saltzman!" The blonde twin immediately says. "I told you to get laid last night, not to fucking get married!"

Josie winces when she hears her sister's yelling. Her headache is still very much present, and she's still hungover. So, she quickly turns the volume of her phone down, because asking Lizzie to be quieter would be suicide

"I-I don't even know what to say." Josie admits as she steps into the elevator. She quickly chooses the floor where the room she shares with her twin is on. "Did you see the stories? Did mom see them?"

"Everyone saw them." Lizzie sighs. "Josie, you're the reasonable twin. How did that even happen?"

Josie runs a hand over her face to try and get rid of some of her exhaustion. She doesn't even know where she should start her story. The brunette wonders if she should tell her twin the whole truth, even the fact that she doesn't have memories of the night before. 

The elevator dings and the doors open, so Josie steps out. "I'm walking back to our room right now, I'll tell you everything after I take a shower."

Lizzie groans. "Fine."

Without a goodbye, the blonde Saltzman twin hangs up the phone. Josie rolls her eyes and puts her phone back inside her purse. It takes her about a minute to walk to their room. When she gets there, the brunette quickly gets her access card to get inside. As soon as she's inside, she spots Lizzie who's standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed. Josie avoids her sister's glare and takes off her shoes.

"Well?"

"After the shower, Lizzie." Josie sighs.

The blonde huffs and sits on the bed. Josie quickly goes through her clothes and finds a pair of sweatpants, a loose t-shirt and new underwear. She almost makes it to the bathroom, only to go back to her suitcase. She quickly looks through her suitcase and finds some pills to hopefully get rid of her headache. She takes a bottle of water from the mini fridge and then she finally disappears into the bathroom. Josie quickly starts the water. When it's running and at the right temperature, she moves to the sinks where she left her clothes, the pills and the water bottle when she walked in. The brunette looks at herself in the mirror, the makeup she had applied the night before is now a little smeared up. She looks tired, and her hair is all messed up even though she tried to smooth it before walking out of Hope's room. 

Josie sighs and shakes her head. As her eyes leave her reflection, they fall down to the sink, but they also catch sight of the ring on her finger. A ring almost as beautiful as the woman it ties her to. A woman she doesn't even know. These thoughts make Josie remember the awful headache she still has. She opens the water bottle, and with its help she takes the pills she brought with her in the bathroom. Then, she proceeds to take the makeup off of her face before stepping into the shower. She stays under the water very briefly, but it manages to do wonders for the brunette. By the end of it, Josie even figures out what she's gonna tell her sister. 

After she gets dressed, Josie finally walks back inside the room. Her whole body tenses up when she realises Lizzie is on the phone, and it only gets worse when she hears what her twin is saying.

"... waiting for her to come out of the shower." The blonde stops speaking, and after a couple of seconds she hums. "I'll make sure she calls you." Lizzie finally sees Josie. "Oh, she's out. Bye mom, I love you."

After a couple of seconds, Lizzie hangs up. She looks a little less mad than before, and it makes some tension leave Josie's body. The brunette puts the clothes she wore the night before back into her suitcase.

"Are you okay, Jo?"

Josie is still placing her clothes into the suitcase when her sister speaks up. She quickly looks at her twin, a little surprised by the concern in Lizzie's voice.

"I'm fine." The words come out a little more broken than she intended them to.

"Josie…"

The brunette quickly wipes the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes, and stands up. 

"I don't know how it happened, okay?" Josie admits as she shrugs. "I woke up in a stranger's bed and realised we were married."

Upon seeing Josie's distress, Lizzie decides to do her best to lighten up the mood by cracking up a joke.

"Well, at least you married a beautiful billionaire and not a creepy old dude."

Despite the tears in her eyes, and the tension in the air, her twin's joke still manages to make Josie laugh a little. She tries containing it at first, but it manages to get out of her. Lizzie smiles at hearing her sister's laugh, and she quickly walks forward to wrap Josie into a hug. The brunette is quick to hug her twin back, feeling the tension finally leaving her body. After a moment, the twins both move until they can sit side by side on one of the bed. 

"Okay. Now, try and tell me what you remember." Lizzie asks.

Josie brings her hands up to massage her temples as she tries to remember.

"Well, you left me in the bar." Josie says the fact they both remember clearly. "We had a brief fight before you left with a man. That's when you told me I needed to get laid." Lizzie nods, also remembering that. "Then, I think I started drinking. I was mad at you. I just… don't remember meeting Hope."

"Not at all?" Lizzie asks, and Josie shakes her head. "So, maybe you were already very drunk when you met her. That's good, it'll be easier to get an annulment."

Josie scratches the back of her head. "Yeah, about that… I agreed to stay married to Hope for at least 6 months."

Lizzie blinks a couple of times. "You did what?"

"Hear me out. Her family is big on marriage and stuff. She was so panicked this morning, and she begged me to agree."

"Josie! You are ridiculously selfless." Lizzie scolds. "You don't know the woman. Why do you even care?"

The brunette twin crosses her arms and pouts. 

"Because I do, okay?" Josie sighs. "It's just 6 months. Then, we can divorce if I want to." 

"If?!" Lizzie says, clearly confused.

Josie can feel the blush on her cheeks and quickly avoids Lizzie's eyes. 

"Hope wants us to stay married." Josie says. "So, she's gonna use those 6 months to try and make me fall for her."

"Josie!" Lizzie shrieks as she stands up, towering her sister. "You agreed to that?"

The brunette quickly stands up too. "Yes, I did! It was my decision, Lizzie."

The blonde Saltzman woman huffs and turns her back to Josie. The brunette rolls her eyes at her sister's immature behavior, but she still gets closer to Lizzie.

"It doesn't mean it will work, Liz." Josie softly says. "You said it yourself, Hope is a stranger. She doesn't know what I like, or how to make me laugh. There's little chance for this marriage to actually work out."

Lizzie turns around. "You won't make it easy for her, right?" Josie shakes her head. "Good. I'm starving, we should go out to eat."

Josie smiles. "Good idea. Let's go."

The brunette twin starts moving to the door, only to be stopped by Lizzie grabbing her wrist.

"Actually, I'll go get us something." She gives Josie a sheepish smile. "You should call mom."

Josie groans as she looks desperately at the ceiling, and Lizzie takes that time to walk out of the room. Well, that phone call would definitely be something. 

* * *

The doors of the restaurant are big and golden. When Josie walks through them and finally gets to look at the inside of the place, her eyes go wide. This place is so expensive looking that it makes the brunette want to run away and never look back. She's almost sure that she could never afford to have a meal here even in her wildest dreams. The hostess looks at Josie with a smile, but the Saltzman woman can feel the disdain she holds for her. Josie's not stupid, she can tell she doesn't fit in. The look makes her feel uneasy, and out of place all the same though.

"Good evening, Miss." The woman says with a fake smile. "My name is Megan. May I help you?"

Josie swallows with difficulty, and chooses her words carefully before opening her mouth.

"Yes, thank you." The brunette says with a fake smile. "My name is Josie Saltzman, I am here to meet with Hope Mikaelson."

The woman's fake smile doesn't drop. "Of course, Miss Saltzman. Let me look at my list to see if your name is on it."

Josie nods, her smile still in place. It takes the woman an awfully long time to look at her list, and Josie quickly starts getting anxious. She wonders if Hope actually forgot to tell the restaurant she was waiting for someone. 

"Miss Mikaelson is indeed waiting for you." Megan says after a while. "If you'd follow me, I'll show you to her table."

The woman gives Josie one last smile before turning around and walking further inside the restaurant. Josie rolls her eyes but still quickly follows Megan. As she follows the woman, the brunette can't help but notice how intimate the booths are. Guests can obviously share their meals away from prying eyes. The woman leading Josie stops at a table in the right corner of the room. Hope is sitting down at the table, sipping red wine and looking at the screen of her phone. 

"Miss Mikaelson, I hope you're enjoying your evening." The woman starts with, and it makes Hope look up. "Your guest has arrived."

The auburn haired woman quickly puts her glass of wine and her phone down. Then, she stands up and smiles awkwardly at Josie. 

"Thank you, Megan." Hope quickly dismisses the woman without looking away from Josie. "It's good to see you again, Josie."

"It's good to see you too."

"Is your ring too tight? Or too loose, maybe?" Hope quickly asks, making Josie frown in confusion. "You've been playing with it. We can change it if you're bothered by it."

Josie looks down and realises she was indeed playing with her wedding ring. She quickly lets go of it and look back up at Hope.

"No, the ring is fine. Perfect, even." Josie can't stop a smile from lightning up her face. "The ruby is my favorite gemstone."

Hope nods and her face softens as she smiles too. They stand near their table, simply looking at each other for a couple of seconds before Hope realises it.

"Oh, we can sit down now if you want."

Josie chuckles. "Yeah, good idea."

The booth designed as half a circle allows them to either sit face to face, or close to each other. Josie decides to sit at a safe distance from Hope, who had settled between the edge and the middle of the booth. Hope pushes her phone further away from her on the table, making Josie notice it again.

"I thought you didn't take your phone with you when you were going out?"

"Oh, by that I meant when I go out to have fun. Not for dinner." Hope clears her throat when all Josie does is nod. "How did your day go?"

The brunette shrugs. "It went well considering I had to explain to my sister and mother how I ended up getting married to a stranger."

Hope grimaces. "Yeah, I get that. My father was beyond furious."

Before either of them can say something else, their waiter appears and asks Josie if she'd like something to drink. The brunette decides to get the same red wine as Hope, and the man disappears. The women decide to start looking at the menu to be ready to give their orders when the waiter would come back. As soon as she opens the menu, Josie's mouth drops.

"Hope, I can't afford to have dinner here!" She whispers.

The Mikaelson woman quickly looks up. "What? No, you're not paying. Dinner's on me."

Josie's hold on the menu gets tighter. "Hope, I don't want to eat a salad that will cost more than a hundred dollars."

"You don't have to eat a salad-"

Josie cuts her off. "I'm vegan, and there is very little vegan options on the menu. Please, can we leave?"

"Of course." Hope awkwardly says as she closes the menu. "Wait for me here, I'll inform the staff we're leaving and pay the note."

Josie nods, not meeting Hope's eyes anymore. She feels even more out of place now than when Megan was looking at her with disdain. It takes a couple of minutes for Hope to actually come back to the table, and when she does, they immediately walk out of the restaurant. The two women walk side by side in the streets of Vegas for no longer than a minute before the auburn haired girl starts speaking.

"I am so sorry." Hope blurts out. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I wanted to take you out somewhere nice, and I didn't think of how you'd feel."

Josie glances at Hope, and the sincere regret on the auburn haired woman's face is enough to make the brunette soften. Josie quickly places a comforting hand on Hope's bicep and squeezes. She tries to not pay attention to the firmness of the skin she finds there, and instead focuses on what she wants to say. 

"Hope, it's okay. We've lived in very different worlds, that's all." Josie smiles and bumps her shoulder into Hope's. "I was raised by a single mom, and you were raised into a billionaire family. We're bound to have different experiences when it comes to the world."

"I'll be more careful." Hope still says. "Do you know a place where we could eat?"

Josie shakes her head. "It's my first time in Vegas."

"I've been here a couple of times, but I've always been in expensive restaurants and none of them are vegan." She gently grabs Josie's wrist to stop her. "Wait, let me look online."

Josie stops Hope from reaching for her phone. "No, don't. Let's find a restaurant by walking down the streets. It will be more fun."

Josie's smile is enough to convince Hope, and soon enough they are both walking again. 

"Where are you from, Josie?"

"Mystic Falls, it's a small town in Virginia." Josie explains. "I know you currently live in New York, that was easy to find online, but is that where you're from?"

"Well, I always lived in New York, but my family is from New Orleans." Hope says with a fond smile. "We have a beautiful house there. Hopefully, you'll let me take you there one day."

"That sounds lovely." Josie finds herself saying, getting one of Hope's beautiful smiles in exchange. "Hope, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, ask anything you want."

"How do you expect this to work?" Josie asks quickly. "I have a life in Mystic Falls. My job is there, my friends are there and my family too."

"I talked about that with my father earlier." Hope says with a frown. "Since I've been working on a fairly new project, I'll be able to work from a distance. I'll have to go to New York sometimes, but only when necessary."

"So, what you're saying is that you're gonna move to Mystic Falls." Josie tries to clarify.

"I mean, I thought that'd be our best option." Hope chances a look at Josie. "Unless you don't want me there."

"No, I do want you there. It's a relief to know you won't ask me to move to New York." Josie gives Hope a half smile. "I don't know if I'd be able to adjust to the city life."

"I don't want to disrupt your life more than I already have." Hope softly says. "If this marriage works, my dad agreed to open a branch of the company in Mystic Falls, or at least nearby."

"You thought about a longterm solution already." Josie says with surprise clear in her voice.

"I told you, I want this to work out." 

All Josie can do to answer that is smile. She's surprised by how thoughtful and sweet Hope actually is. Despite the little awkward moment they shared at the restaurant, Josie finds herself enjoying the night greatly. Short after that conversation, they find a nice little restaurant where they decide to eat. As they eat their meals, they fall into surprisingly easy conversation. Childhoods, friends and families are being discussed as well as hobbies and careers. It surprises them both when Lizzie calls Josie to know when she'll be coming back to the hotel. Neither of them had realised it had gotten this late. 

So, after paying for their meals, they decide to walk back to the hotel. Hope walks Josie to the door of the room she shares with her twin. When they get there, they once again stand face to face in silence for a couple of seconds before Hope speaks.

"Josie, I have something to ask you." Hope says as they are standing close to each other. Josie nods, prompting Hope to keep talking. "Do I actually have a chance to make this work?"

The brunette bites her lip. "I think so. I mean, I won't make it impossible for you."

Hope chuckles quietly. "I guess that's good enough. So, you're leaving early tomorrow morning, right?"

"Yeah." Josie says in a sigh. "How much time will it take before you get to Mystic Falls?" 

"I have my last meeting here tomorrow. Then, I have to go back home and pack some things as well as prepare myself to work out of my office. Hopefully, I'll get there in a week or so."

Josie nods. "Okay, good."

Hope nods too. "I guess I should go now."

"Goodnight, Hope."

The auburn haired woman leans in and leaves a soft kiss on the brunette's cheek before moving back in her spot.

"Goodnight, Josie."

As the Saltzman woman watches Hope walk to the elevator and disappear into it, Josie can't help but think that not falling for her would be harder than she originally thought it would be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter wasn't as funny as the first one, but I hope you still enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! You guys voted for this story to get an update so I'm here to deliver!
> 
> Enjoy ✌️

As soon as Hope Mikaelson gets to Mystic Falls, she knows her life will have to completely change. The Mikaelson heir left the city that never sleeps to settle down in an unknown small town somewhere in Virginia. Instead of large buildings, and loud cars, there's cozy little stores and an alarming number of trucks. Hope is so used to the busy streets of New York that Mystic Falls almost seems like a ghost town to her. 

It doesn't take her too long to find the only small motel in town. The woman at the desk looks at Hope like she's coming from another planet. The auburn haired woman does her best to be as nice and polite as possible, but she doesn't even get a hint of a smile from the woman. After this less than pleasant meeting, Hope leaves to go to her room. A loud sigh escapes her when she steps foot into the room. Old furniture, tiny room, tiny bed… She quickly thinks about the fact that she needs to buy a house as soon as possible. 

Hope leaves her suitcase on the bed, and quickly gets out of the room again. She agreed to meet Josie in a coffee shop in town, so she needs to find it before she's late. 

Turns out that finding the shop isn't as hard as she thought it would be, since there's only one restaurant and one coffee shop in town. As soon as she walks through the door, Hope can smell the coffee in the air, mixed with all kinds of other smells. Old books, new books, vanilla, roses… The Mikaelson woman quickly looks around, and what she sees puts a soft smile on her face. It's hard to say what this place is actually meant to be. There's books on all the walls, plants are everywhere, there's chairs, tables and couches all over the place and there's a counter in the back where people can place their orders. 

Nervousness quickly kicks in when Hope spots Josie, but it's mixed with confusion. Her wife is standing behind the counter, busy with cleaning something Hope can't see. The auburn haired woman walks to the counter, and Josie doesn't really notice her. So, Hope clears her throat to get the brunette's attention. The Saltzman woman jumps a little, and quickly looks up. Her eyes go a little wide when she sees Hope there, but quickly, there's a smile taking over her features.

"Hope, you're here!"

"Hey, Josie." Hope says with a smile. "When you told me to meet you here, you didn't tell me you actually worked here."

Josie's smile gets bigger than before. "I actually own the place with my best friend. I'll introduce you to him. Wait for me, I'll be back in a second."

Hope watches the brunette disappear in the back of the shop as the new information sinks in. So, Josie is the owner of this place. They really live very different lives. Hope barely has the time to think of anything else before Josie walks back into the front of the coffee shop with a man a little taller than her, with dark skin, impressive hair and an easy smile on.

"Hope, this is MG! He is my best friend and the co-owner of The Nook!"

MG quickly holds out his hand, and Hope just as quickly shakes it. The man takes his hand back with a nervous chuckle.

"You got a good grip, Hope." He says before glancing at Josie and then back at Hope. "It's nice to meet Josie's wi-"

The brunette slaps her best friend's arm.

"MG! Don't call her my-" Josie lowers her voice. "Wife."

Hope frowns. "Why? That's what I am. I've been calling you my wife."

Hope watches as Josie's cheeks turn a deep shade of pink. The brunette avoids her eyes and looks at the floor. Hope sighs, quickly understanding that Josie didn't really get used to the idea of them being married. She can't blame her though. They've been together for less than 24 hours since they've been married. 

"I-I don't know, okay? It just feels a little bit too much." Seeing Hope's frown still firmly in place, Josie sighs and looks around. "Look, let's sit and talk, okay?"

"Aren't you working?" 

"Yeah, but MG will cover for me. Right, MG?"

The man nods. "Yeah, totally."

Josie smiles and thanks her friend before moving around the counter to meet Hope. The Mikaelson girl finally gets a good look at the brunette for the first time that day. Josie's wearing tight black jeans, a cute yellow button up shirt and an apron with a flowery pattern on it. Hope can't stop the fond smile that appears on her face. Even though she got married while she was ridiculously drunk, she still managed to score the cutest girl she's ever seen. Then, Hope's smile suddenly drops.

"You're not wearing your ring."

Josie's eyes quickly drop to her hand, the one with the missing ring, before she looks back up to Hope.

"I take it off before work everyday. I wouldn't want to lose it or damage it."

Hope quickly feels embarrassed that she assumed the worst when she noticed the missing ring. She scratches the back of her neck awkwardly and gives Josie a sorry smile.

"It makes sense." Hope awkwardly says.

Josie smiles. "It's in my purse, in the back of the store." She takes a step backwards and waves at Hope to follow her. "Let's sit down."

The brunette leads them to a table in the far corner of the place, near a window where the rays of the sun fall on them softly. Josie offers the auburn haired woman a smile, and it makes Hope smile back shyly. The Mikaelson woman's been nervous to see Josie again since the moment they parted. Navigating a potential romantic relationship is something Hope has been dreading. She doesn't know what to do, or what to say to Josie. After all, she doesn't know the brunette. The little bits of information she got are what Josie shared the night they went out to dinner together before Josie came back to Mystic Falls. 

"So, how was the drive to get here?" Josie asks to start the conversation. 

Hope shrugs. "It was long. It was nice though, gave me some time to think."

Josie bites her lip and nods. "You're staying at the Mystic Motel, right?"

"It was kind of my only option." The Mikaelson woman sighs. "It's not what I'm used to, but it'll have to do until we find a house."

Josie's eyes bulge out of her head. "Wait! We? A house?"

Hope frowns, clearly confused by Josie's reaction. The brunette looks totally taken by surprise, and a little panicked. The redhead doesn't understand why what she said got such a reaction. She thought it was clear that they'd need to live together in order for this marriage to work.

"Of course. Did you think I'd stay in that weird motel for six months?"

"N-no." Josie stutters, avoiding Hope's eyes. "I just… I thought you'd find an apartment or something. Isn't buying a house a step too far? We might not work out and-"

" _ If _ that happens, I'll just sell the house." Hope quickly cuts her off. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay. And you expect me to come and live with you?"

"Yes." Hope's frown never disappeared, and it only got deeper. "Josie, I don't understand what's happening. You agreed to everything back in Vegas."

"I agreed to stay married to you, and to you coming to live in Mystic Falls!"

"And to actually give me a chance." Hope insists. "Look, if I'm wasting my time, just say it."

Josie leans back in her chair and crosses her arms, a look of defiance appears on her face. 

"I thought you needed me to agree to stay married to you."

Hope sighs, trying really hard to stay calm. "I do, but I won't stay here and do everything to make you fall for me if you don't want me to. If you're not willing to let this work, then it's no use for me to try."

They hold each other's gaze for a long moment, neither of them willing to back down just yet. As a business woman, Hope has been frustrated before for numerous reasons, but somehow this situation is a thousand times worse. It's pretty clear Josie and her have lived very different lives, and that they have different expectations lying on them. Hope wishes she could find the words to explain to Josie what this marriage means to her, and what it could mean for the both of them is Josie would just give it her all.

The different emotions Hope can see in Josie's eyes are enough to make her unclench her fists, and do her best to calm herself. Scaring the brunette is the last thing the Mikaelson woman needs right now, and if she loses her temper, it will definitely happen. Hope opens her mouth to backtrack, but Josie beats her to it.

"I do want to give this a chance, but I feel like this is going too fast, Hope." Josie says, her voice smaller than what Hope would have expected. "We don't really know each other, and you want us to live together? That's a recipe for disaster."

Hope takes a couple of seconds to digest Josie's words. She can see the brunette closing herself off, and it's making the Mikaelson woman nervous. Maybe treating this relationship like she would treat a business deal is not the best move.

The auburn haired woman scoots closer to the table and farther from the back of her chair. She leans her elbows on the table and then rests her chin in her hands.

"Okay." She breathes out. "Let's look at it in another way. What about-" Hope stops and narrows her eyes. "We look for a house, and choose it together. You don't come live with me at first, you stay with your mom and your sister, but there's always gonna be a space for you in the house. Whenever you'll be ready, you can just move in."

The guards that Josie built up at the start of their conversation seem to crumble with every word coming out of Hope's mouth. She goes from having an annoyed frown, and crossed arms to having a sort of vulnerable expression on her face. 

"I want us to build something together, Josie." Hope says, her voice a lot softer than before. "I want you to be comfortable with me, and in our future home."

"T-that works." Josie says with a little smile. The brunette glances at the counter and bites her lip when she realizes her best friend needs help. "I should go help MG. Do you mind waiting for me here? I'm done with work in like-" She looks at the clock on the wall. "Twenty minutes."

"Of course." Hope says with a nod. 

Hope's eyes stay glued to the brunette until Josie disappears in the back of the store. The woman releases a breath she had not realized she was holding. She almost ruined everything by moving too fast. She'll have to be more careful. Josie is obviously being careful about the whole situation, and Hope is gonna have to work harder than she thought. 

Time goes by quickly as the auburn haired woman watches her wife move around the coffee shop. She watches with wonder as Josie makes coffee, talks with customers and suggests books. The Saltzman woman looks in her element, comfortable and happy. This place was made to her image and it shows. Hope takes a mental note to study this place, she has a feeling that by learning more about The Nook, she'll also learn more about Josie.

At one point, Josie comes to tell Hope she'll be out soon, just to disappear in the backstore once more. Hope's eyes follow her, and that's when she sees a tall man with dark hair go behind the counter. He talks with MG for a moment and then he quickly looks at Hope. Their eyes connect, and the man frowns. He's still listening to MG, but his eyes are glued to Hope. The Mikaelson woman holds his gaze, used to men trying to intimidate her with stares. The man tries to make his way to her, but MG stops him with a hand on his chest, and that's when Josie walks out of the backstore again. She quickly goes to the man and MG. After a couple of seconds, and a short conversation, Josie walks away from the men, annoyance written all over her face. She still forces a smile as she gets closer to Hope.

"Hey, I'm ready to go."

Hope stands up with a smile. "Good! Where are we going exactly?"

"I thought I could show you around town." Josie says as they walk out of the coffee shop. "After that, we could have dinner together at the Mystic Grill and then…"

Josie pauses and Hope sighs. "And then I'll go back to my motel room?"

The brunette nods. "For tonight. We can spend more time together tomorrow since I'm only working in the morning."

Hope looks at Josie as they walk down the streets of Mystic Falls. Every now and then, she looks at something her wife points out. When she notices the ring is back on Josie's hand, Hope can't help but smile. She finds it really comforting to see it back where it belongs. 

After walking around the town for a good thirty minutes, Josie leads them inside a music store, making Hope smile instantly. The place is small, but it's full of things. Instruments, vinyls, CDs, posters… Nothing's new, yet everything looks in perfect condition.

A man with dreads and taller than both Hope and Josie is stacking CDs when they come in. His whole face lights up when he sees the brunette and it takes no time before Josie is pulled into a hug and twirled around. 

"Hey, princess!" The man says with a smile in his voice. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm showing Hope around town." Josie quickly explains. "Your store is one of my favorites, so we had to stop by."

He looks at the auburn haired woman over Josie's shoulder for a second too long.

"Is that her?" He quietly asks.

Josie nods and quickly gets out of the way so that Kaleb and Hope can fully look at each other. Hope senses a lot less hostility coming from this man than the one she briefly saw earlier. He takes a step closer to her and offers a hand that Hope shakes without hesitation.

"Kaleb, this is Hope." Josie nervously says. "And Hope, this is my friend Kaleb."

"Hey, I'm Kaleb." He says with a smile. "I'm the head of princess Josie's guard. Don't let Jed tell you otherwise."

The brunette groans. "Speaking of Jed… Can you tell your boyfriend to just chill? He was ready to go all princess guard on Hope earlier."

The man rolls his eyes. "I'll talk to him, but you know how he gets. He's just really protective."

"Well, we're not 8 anymore. He can't just beat up everyone who looks at me the wrong way."

Hope frowns, suddenly concerned. "Did I do something to anger him?"

Kaleb snorts. "Oh, you mean outside of drunkenly marrying our princess?"

The Mikaelson woman's mouth drops, and she tries to come up with something to say but nothing comes up, so she closes her mouth. Josie quickly sees how uncomfortable Hope suddenly is, so she jumps in to help her.

"Hey, that's as much my fault as it's hers."

Kaleb looks between them curiously, but just as he's about to say something, people walk into the store. 

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He looks at Hope and winks. "Josie knows her way around."

Soon after he's gone, Josie starts moving around the store, giving little facts about the place in the process. Hope listens to every word coming out of the brunette's mouth as she looks around. They go from one section of the store to another. Sometimes, Josie pulls out a CD or a Vinyl, and tells Hope about it. The Mikaelson woman lets her do it, and she can't stop smiling as she sees how excited her wife gets when she's talking about music. Hope doesn't really talk much, but she doesn't mind. 

The only time Hope's prompted to talk is when they reach a table full of music in other languages. She quickly notices a very familiar artist amongst the ones being displayed there, and she picks up the CD without hesitation. 

"Do you know her?" Hope asks.

"Jena Lee…" Josie reads the name aloud. "I don't think so."

"She's a French singer." The auburn haired woman explains. "There's one song... " She looks at the back of the album, and smiles brightly when she finds what she's looking for. "It's on this album. It's beautiful, Josie. I love it."

"Give it to me." Josie says as she extends a hand. Hope quickly gives her the album. "Kaleb has a place where we can listen to CDs and Vinyls."

Hope follows Josie until they get to the place the brunette had talked about. She quickly places the CD in the player and asks Hope to put the song she was talking about earlier. For the first minute or so, neither of them speak. The song fills the air, and both girls are listening. After a moment though, Josie turns to Hope and it pushes the shorter woman to talk.

"Music transcends the language barriers. It can speak to you even if you don't understand the words that are being said, and that's just how strong human emotions are." Hope pauses, but she still doesn't look at the brunette who's standing so close to her now. "I don't like to restrict myself to songs I understand the lyrics of. I think we can see the beauty of a song beyond the words, you know?" Hope finally lets her eyes fall on Josie. "The song talks about someone who wants to move on from a past relationship with a new lover, but they find it hard to do. Their past relationship is still haunting them."

Josie's takes a sharp intake of breath and avoids Hope's eyes. She takes a step back, putting some much needed distance between them. The distance makes the Mikaelson girl feel nervous, and she suddenly worries that she said something wrong. 

"Oh, did I forget to mention I know a little bit of French?" Hope tries to lighten up the mood. 

Josie smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. She wraps her arms around her middle, as if to hug herself. Hope can't help but notice just how vulnerable and sad the brunette suddenly looks. Before she can say anything though, Josie shakes her head and takes a step backwards.

"I-I'm sorry, Hope. I totally forgot, but I had something planned tonight. I have to go." She turns around without waiting for an answer, but after walking a couple of steps, she quickly turns around again. "You're gonna find the way to the Mystic Motel, right?"

Hope wants to ask the brunette what's wrong. She wants to know why she's running away, and why she's lying about it. But she also doesn't want to push Josie to talk, and maybe create a rift between them. She's torn between her head and her heart.

"I will." She ends up saying with a forced smile. "Don't worry about me. Have a good night, Josie."

The brunette nods. "Good night, Hope."

Then, Josie walks out of the store without looking back again. Hope watches her go with a heavy heart, feet frozen in place. She's still looking at the door of the store long after Josie's gone, unable to pull her eyes away from it. She doesn't even notice when Kaleb walks up to her, so when his voice reaches her ears, it makes her jump a little.

"Damn, girl. What did you do to make her run like that?"

Hope swallows with difficulty. "I have no idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was worth the wait!
> 
> Oh! And don't forget to listen to the the Hosie song, "kindred spirits" by Sarah Barrios. Oh, and while you're at it, go watch THE edit ("Hope & Josie : Kindred Spirits" by feuenfeu).

**Author's Note:**

> Special thank you to my two very supportive friends. They'll recognize themselves.


End file.
